Off The Beaten Path
by Dana Keylits
Summary: A ThankYouTerri prompt fill. Please see the A/N at the end of the story for the prompt. And, Thank you to all who have participated in this amazing endeavor, especially Kate Christie and Dia. Disclaimer: They're not mine, I'm just playing with them. Spoilers: Up to 7X10.


**Off the Beaten Path**

By Dana Keylits

"**W**hy does everything have to be a competition with you?" Kate asked, pausing at the park bench to stretch a stubborn calf muscle. Castle was bent over double, heaving for breath. "Besides," she added with a smirk, "You should know there's no way you'll beat me."

He wagged a disagreeing finger at her, but he couldn't offer her his usual witty reply because he was still gasping for breath. He looked like he might vomit. She handed him the bottle of water she kept holstered to her running belt and checked her watch. "Maybe we should call it?"

He shook his head, straightening up but kneading what was probably a serious stitch in his side. "No," he finally blurted, guzzling from the water bottle, rivulets of cool water trickling down his chin. "No, I want a rematch."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," he replied, capping the water bottle and tossing it to her. She caught it with one hand, and slipped it into the holster at her back. "Double or nothing."

She arched an eyebrow and inched closer, her lower lip tucked between her teeth. She _did_ love a challenge. "Parameters?"

He pointed at a narrow dirt trail that branched off from the paved running path they were on. It led to a wooded area of the park, down a sharp ravine, and then curved along a meandering creek that cut across the center of the park, overhead footbridges spanning its gap. "Off road."

A slow smile crept up her mouth and she nodded, holding out her hand. "You're on."

He shook her hand to seal the deal, his hands sweaty, and then reached into her running belt, pulling out a packet of Gu Energy Gel. He opened it and offered it to her, but she made a face. He squirted the chocolate Gu into his mouth and closed his eyes. She wrinkled her nose. "I don't know _anyone_ else who actually likes that stuff."

"What's not to like?" he argued. "It's chocolate," he squirted more into his mouth, "It's goo." He smacked his lips. "Delicious."

A droplet of chocolate Gu was clinging to the corner of his mouth and, without thinking, she leaned in and licked it off, her lips skimming his before she pulled away, smiling at his startled face. "Ready?"

He paused a beat, as though waiting for another kiss, before finally replying. "Ready."

"Go!"

They raced to the narrowed path, Castle reaching it first and practically launching himself down it. Kate was three steps behind, but halfway down the hill, it sloped so steeply that she lost her footing and fell backwards, landing on her right hip. With nothing to hold onto, she slid down the hill like a toboggan.

"Caaaaasssssssstttttllllle!"

But her warning came too late, and she slid into the back of his legs, knocking him off his feet, and partially onto her.

"Unf."

"Ow!"

"What the-?"

"Oooh."

"Ouch."

They slid the rest of the way down the hill together, their legs tangled in awkward angles, her water bottle flying from its holster, until they finally stopped on a patch of grass just short of tumbling into the fast moving creek.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Wait. Beckett. Are you _crying_?"

She was laughing so hard that tears were streaming in a haphazard path down her face and her sides felt like they would burst. It wasn't long before his booming guffaw joined hers in a chorus of embarrassed laughter. When they finally recovered, Kate rolled onto her side, her hand resting on the solid plane of his chest. "Sorry."

"Don't be," he replied, leaning down to kiss her. "I much prefer _this_ to _that_," he chin nodded at the path they should have been running down.

She swung one leg over his, rocking her pelvis against his hip while shards of pleasure pricked her insides. "Yeah?"

Suddenly the mood shifted, and he stared down at her through hooded eyes. "Yeah," he mumbled, his tone low, his eyes dark.

His kiss was soft, slow, barely a feather against her lips, until she seized the back of his head with both hands, pressing him closer, her tongue urgent, curious, demanding, and the slow moan that rumbled from his throat heated them both. The hard ground beneath her was barely a concern as he tugged at the hem of her running shirt, his fingers finding their way beneath the soft fabric, pushing it up so that he could dip his mouth to her tepid skin. He used his other hand to pull her shorts down, they were the kind that had the underwear built in. and she felt a familiar coiling in her belly, in spite of the voice at the back of her mind that was doing its best to remind her that they were in public and she should act accordingly.

She willed the thought away and veined her legs around him as he hovered over her. She could feel his arousal and she swung her hips from side to side, smiling against his mouth as he groaned. She reached for the waistband of his shorts and tugged. He rose to his knees, letting her pull them past his hips, and she filled her hand with him, satisfied at his sudden gasp of breath.

He yanked her clothes down her legs, her shorts clinging to her left ankle, and hovered over her, a sideways smile lighting his face, his eyes swimming with hunger. "Kate," he whispered, and then his mouth descended on hers just as their bodies joined.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp object make contact with the top of her head, and she flinched. "Ow," she complained.

Castle froze. "Did I hurt you?"

She met his worried gaze. "No, no," she glanced up in an attempt to get a view of the path behind her her. "Something hit the top of my head," she explained, rubbing her crown. Her words were no sooner out of her mouth when another rock rained down on her. "Ow!" She watched as Castle glanced up to the path and his face rearranged itself into a mask of panic.

"Holy Shi-," he mumbled, "Beck...ah, oh, there..." he eased off of her and then scrambled to his feet, his shorts gathered like an accordion around his ankles. "Someone's coming," he hissed, grasping her hand as he helped her to her feet. They shuffled quickly to the nearest low hanging tree, Castle tripping over his shorts and scraping both knees before reaching it, and ducked out of sight just as a group of three women came running down the path. Kate's heart was hammering in her chest, and when she looked down, realized immediately her mistake.

"Castle!" she hissed, her eyes like saucers. "My running shorts!"

Blazing like a beacon in the night, her neon yellow shorts were laying in the grass where the path took a 45-degree right turn. There was no way the trio of runners were going to miss them. She felt his laughter before she heard it, in the roll of his shoulders, the gentle bobbing of his head, followed by stifled chuckles that he tried to silence by covering his mouth with one hand. She balled up her fist and punched him in the bicep. "It's not _funny."_

But it _was_ funny, it was _really_ funny. Here she was, a New York Police Department Detective, _literally_ caught with her pants down. She felt her own laughter bubble to the surface and she slapped her hands over her mouth. The runners stopped at the base of the path, pointed at her shorts, and then looked around, scanning the area. Kate held her breath, which wasn't easy because she was choked with laughter, as one of them, a dark haired woman with one blue sock and one green, stared right at the cluster of trees where Castle and Kate were hiding.

Which only made them laugh harder and Kate was starting to get a stitch in her side, not helped by the snorts and chortles erupting from Castle's lips.

Castle darted out of view, pressing Kate up against the rough surface of the tree, attempting to cover her nakedness with (she could _feel_ he hadn't pulled his shorts up) his own, apparently. Their muffled laughter eclipsed only by the sound of rushing water as it flowed down the crooked creek.

"Hey, is someone here?" one of women called out. Kate dared a glance around the trunk of the tree, and saw mismatched-socks toeing her shorts.

"Should we pick them up? Or..."

Kate stopped breathing.

_No, no, no, no, no, _she thought. She turned to Castle and whispered. "_What am I going to do without pants?" _

Castle snorted, his face practically purple from trying to keep his laughter stifled, and one of the girls must have heard him.

"Hey!" one of the women called out, a blonde with braces. "Show yourself or we're calling the police."

"We're calling the police?" mismatched-socks asked. "Why?"

"Why? Because this is a public path, and..."

"Oh, don't be such a prude," the third woman, shorter than her friends, chimed in. "Just because you're not getting any, doesn't mean everyone else has to be celibate."

"_Angela_," braces hissed. "There are _kids_ who use this path."

Angela bent over, picked up Kate's shorts, and hung them from a nearby branch. "Oh, get your knickers out of their twist, wouldja?" She glanced over at the tree where Kate and Castle were 'hiding' and held one hand Tarzan style beside her mouth as she bellowed, "I'm sure anyone who _almost_ got caught doing the nasty in public will be more _careful_ next time." She smirked at her friend, holding up one palm. "Satisfied?"

Braces huffed, clearly not impressed, but after one disgusted glance at Kate's shorts, followed her friends down the path without comment.

When the trio were out of sight, Castle stepped back and, struggling against the tears in his eyes, pulled up his shorts. Then he darted to the branch where Kate's shorts were dangling, plucked them off the branch, and scurried back to Kate who was still pressed up against the massive tree, wiping her own tears from her eyes and catching her breath.

"Thanks," she whispered, a stray chuckle making it sound like _thay-yanks._

"Wait," Castle murmured. "Kate, what do you say we..?" he sidled closer to her, sliding one knee between her legs.

"Seriously?"

"What? No one's around, we've got a perfect hiding place, you're..." he waved at her nakedness and arched an eyebrow.

She tucked her lower lip between her teeth and offered him a coy glance. He nuzzled her neck and a ripple of pleasure radiated from the spot where his lips were making his case. _Oh, what the hell,_ she thought, melting into him. _You only live once._

* * *

"_**R**ichard_. Darling, I'm glad you're home, I need..." Martha stopped mid-sentence as she watched the pair stumble in through the front door. "What in the _world_?"

"Oh, hello Mother," Castle greeted, closing the door behind him and tossing his keys on the mail stand. Kate was already toeing out of her running shoes, her legs scraped and scratched and covered in grime.

"What on earth happened to you two?"

"We went running," Kate offered.

Martha shifted her weight from one colorfully shoed foot to the other, planting one hand on her hip. "Well, I can _see_ that, dear. I mean, why do you look like you've just escaped a bear attack?" She pointed at Castle's skinned knees and frowned.

Kate glanced at Castle who gave her a knowing wink, at which point Martha clucked.

"Oh, oh, oh, _I_ see," she sing-songed, gliding closer to the couple. "My darlings, a word of advice?" Kate glanced back at Martha who, with a conspiratorial tone, leaned in and said, "If you're going to _do it_ in the great outdoors?" She held up one well-manicured finger. "Bring a blanket." She pointed at Kate's scratched arms and bleeding elbow, "Helps contain the _elements_."

Kate felt her cheeks turn crimson and noticed Castle's head bobbing, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose as he groaned, "Oh, God."

Martha patted her son on the shoulder as she stepped past the pair to the front door, spinning on her heel to say, "I'm off to the hairdresser, so feel free to cavort however you like, perhaps take turns playing doctor and nurse?"

"_Mother_," Castle groaned.

"Oh, pooh, Richard. You're a married couple now, no sense hiding the fact that you and Katherine have..."

"Thank you," Castle interrupted, spinning on his heel and gently pushing his mother out the door. "Bye bye now." He slammed the door behind his mother and exhaled heavily.

Chuckling, Kate padded towards the bedroom. "C'mon Castle," she teased, turning around to catch his eye. She beckoned with one curled finger for him to join her, biting her bottom lip as she glanced at him seductively. "We should listen to your mother."

**The End.**

* * *

**A/N: **_Prompt: "Caskett almost get caught having outdoors sex and have to stay quiet and not give themselves away, laughing, and then carry on." _

_Filled as a gift to carolinad423 for a generous contribution to YoungStoryTellers dot com slash ThankYouTerri. See all the prompts and fills at ThankYouTerri dot tumblr dot com. _


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